August 24, 2005

Many thanks to all of you that submitted suggestions for my September CanLit reading list. For the record, the complete list of submissions, which I received both online and offline, was:

Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake

Sandra Birdsell, The Russländer

Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams

Hugh MacLennan, The Watch that Ends the Night

W. O. Mitchell, Who Has Seen the Wind

Farley Mowat, The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

Farley Mowat, The Dog Who Wouldn't Be

Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion

Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version

Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Last Crossing

Robert Charles Wilson, The Chronoliths

Adele Wiseman, The Sacrifice

Adele Wiseman, Crackpot

Now, the thing about this is, I only wanted five, and I had already pre-selected one: Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town, which will kick off the set. After scouring the library for all these books, reading the cover blurbs, and all the rest of the usual rigamarole that goes into choosing reading material, I just barely managed to pare down the list . . .

In order, then, here's my reading agenda for the month of September:

Stephen Leacock, Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town

Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Last Crossing

Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion

Adele Wiseman, The Sacrifice

W. O. Mitchell, Who Has Seen the Wind

As for the rest of the recommendations that didn't make the short list: Thanks a lot! I'm not going to ignore them, as most of them looked good. I maintain a list of books I'd like to read in the future sometime, and they'll get added. It just means they won't be read soon.